Corner Brook Baseball Association wants city to take action on longtime proposal

One by one they slowly made their way inside the tight quarters of a dressing room at the request of Corner Brook Association director Frank Humber.

The dark room with its peeling blue paint and musky odour is the original structure that was erected during the 1950s, Humber says as he goes about an informal chat with what appeared to be an attentive audience, as nods from several in the room followed his words.

He gave them some background into the programs run at the field by the association, but his focus was solely on letting those in the room know the field has become an embarrassment to the City of Corner Brook and he wants the waiting to come to a halt.

He then asked them to check out the washroom one by one with a light laugh. None of the council hopefuls in the room took him up on the offer.

Next on the short tour of the venue, he showed them a couple of small storage rooms. One of them, he said, was one of the old lunchrooms from the former Humber Gardens.

With a shadow over half the field and two senior teams getting ready for a playoff game to follow, Humber then marched them out onto the field near home plate.

He looked out towards the outfield grass and said, “This can bring tears to my eyes. Jubilee Field is a gem. It is a beautiful field.”

Now, if he could only have some movement on having the exterior of the field brought up to the same standard as the playing surface and city council provide the blessing, because it’s been a long road.

A total of 12 out of the 18 candidates for council and mayoral candidate Jim Parsons showed up to the field for an informal discussion after being invited by the association.

Humber wanted to give all council hopefuls a chance to see first-hand why the association has been fighting for a major overhaul to Jubilee for over 20 years.

He felt it was important for all hands, especially the new faces in the race, to know that the association’s file with the city on this proposed project has collected a fair amount of dust.